Letter to Editor: Let's preserve our 'hard rock' history

I strongly agree with Carol Ellis’s comments in the (Aug. 23) Placer Herald regarding Rocklin’s forgotten/hidden history/heritage.
I have lived here for 10 years and, except for a mention once in a while, I really knew very little about Rocklin’s “Hard Rock” history. I had no idea how many quarries operated in Rocklin for 130 years, and where Rocklin’s high grade granite went.
Dan DeFoe, a history professor at Sierra Community, put out a great video, “Gold, Granite and Grit, A Quarry, A town and the Building of California”. What an eye opener to the history of Rocklin. It covered about 150 years of Rocklin history, how it got started, how and why it grew, who was involved, and how Rocklin was closely connected to the railroads, and the granite quarries that dot our fair city.
Would you believe thousands of tons of Rocklin granite were used to build many of California landmarks, including the California State Capitol, the U.S. Mint in San Francisco, Bank of Italy in San Francisco, Sacramento City Hall, Sacramento Jail, and the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
A lot of the history is still there, available to not only residents of Rocklin, but also to many folks in the area who are interested in Rocklin’s and California’s history.
We, the residents of Rocklin and the City Council, need to find a way to preserve some of the last vestiges of our “hard rock” history.
“Big Gun Quarry” and “Quinn Quarry” could be preserved and turned into a real tourist destination. If the residents of Rocklin agreed to a small millage increase on their property taxes (about $10) for 10 years, these historic quarries, the shed and the machinery that cut and polished the granite could be preserved.
It could also fund a Historic Preservation effort which many towns and cities nationwide already have. Couldn’t we all give up a Starbuck’s Latte, Mocha, Cappuccino, Grande or whatever or a Big Mac combo to bring alive Rocklin’s history?
Let’s do it!!!
Don Perera, Rocklin